Monthly Archives: July 2007

This past weekend I was away camping in Strathcona provincial park and although the weather was not nice and sunny it did not rain too much. I spent much of the time hiking and I was able to get lots of pictures. Strathcona has some amazing hikes and scenery, although I did not have time to make it up to the alpine on any longer hikes I did lots of short little hikes that were more than rewarding. Almost anywhere you go in the park there is some stunning scenery that will make you awestruck. Because of where the park is located you get lots of steep mountains and lots of lakes, streams and water falls. Not only this but because it is the oldest park on Vancouver Island there are plenty of very large old growth trees.

One of the first places I went was Lupin Falls which is a short walk though big trees to a water fall. I will let the pictures do the talking.

This is the first part of a multi-part series and I will be posting updates here as soon as I get more pictures done. Check back tomorrow for pictures from Buttle lake.

Nick Brandt has some amazing photographs. He has a unique outlook on how he does his photos. Most of his work seems to be based in Africa but is not limited to there. He noticed that all photos taken of African animals were always action photos or photos showing the natural beauty. Instead of taking this approach Nick wanted a fine art view instead and makes some very different shots that you otherwise don’t see. He does not use telephoto lenses but instead will spend days letting animals get used to his presence and is quite close when he takes pictures that are truly unique of animals that are always seen in the same perspective. Make sure you take a look at all of his work on his website.

Before getting this bag I had always had smaller Lowepro camera bags. I had always bought bags that would just fit the equipment I had at the time. When it came time to getting another bag because I needed more room I decided to get something a little bigger and have room to expand. I wanted a backpack that was comfortable and I could hike in. I was also looking for something that was semi-water proof as here in British Columbia it likes to rain a lot. Another added bonus was that it was able to carry a laptop which is great if you are traveling. This bag overall has been great but does have some downfalls.

Features:

All weather cover

Tripod holder

Full harness

Fully customizable and includes removable padded dividers

Lots of pockets and pouches etc.

I don’t have lots of equipment or to many large lenses but everything I do fits really well and there is plenty of room for more stuff. I have the following in my bag:

Nikon D50 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8

Nikkor 60mm Micro f/2.8

Sigma 10-20mm f3.5-4.5

Nikon SB-600 flash

Misc. cleaning stuff

12″ laptop, charger & mouse

Spare batteries & chargers

Memory cards

Tripod

All of this stuff fits no problem and I could fit double what I have in there. The problem with putting more stuff in it would be very heavy. as it is it is pretty heavy but manageable, I don’t know how comfortable it would be if you doubled the weight. The tripod holder is great but only in ideal conditions, it makes the bag hard to set down as the tripod then extends lower that the base of the bag and with the tripod in the holder the rain cover does not fit. This is the one major flaw of this bag. If it is raining and you want your rain cover on then you will be carrying your tripod. The only other minor nuisance is getting your camera or stuff in and out you have to take your backpack off and set it down, it is like this for any backpack bag but you should keep it in mind.

Pros:

Lots of room

Good construction

Very well laid out

Fully customizable

Cons:

Tripod holder cant be used with rain cover

A bit pricey

Ratings:

Build quality 5/5Price 4/5Functionality 4/5

Overall 4.5/5

Overall I would highly recommend this bag, the only that really bothers me is that the rain cover does not work when the tripod is in its holder, other wise this is a great bag.

This is the start of what I hope is a regular thing. This is a showcase of all the different styles that are out there. The first artist is Dave Hill, he has a very unique style that is often copied but never done as well. He uses very complex lighting techniques and multi photo composites. Make sure you check out the behind the scenes stuff it really gives you a good feeling of how he sets everything up. Make sure you check out his site.